Friday, November 13, 2009

The ghosts of November

Whatever his faults, President Bush got to say one thing that the American people always appreciated: After 9/11, he kept us safe from a terrorist attack on the homeland. If Hasan acted as a jihadist terrorist and not a disgruntled psychiatrist, Obama can’t even make the same claim about his first year in office.

Two things to note. First, a perfect example of the desire of conservatives to write 9/11 out of Bush's record. Ignoring the huge disaster 8 months into his term, he did a great job. Which means incidentally that, as written, Goldberg's swipe at Obama is just wrong. Bush can't make the claim that he says Obama can't make.

But anyway, did Bush get through the rest of term without any more Islamist-inspired attacks? The Jonah Goldberg of 2002 didn't think so -- because he thought that the Washington DC-area sniper attacks were Islamist terrorism. Before the culprits were found, there was the speculation --

The D.C. sniper is demonstrating many of the skills and techniques taught at al-Qaida's terrorist training camps, including hit-and-run attacks and facility with military weapons. Also, eyewitnesses say the sniper is an "olive-skinned man" -not that anyone wants to racially profile. Also, there's the fact that the sniper attacks are in and around Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. The coincidence that this is happening at the seat of the U.S. government is relevant.

IS JOHN MUHAMMED A THREEFER? [Jonah Goldberg]We know the Sniper is a Nation of Islam Muslim (which is to say he belongs to a cult that uses Islamic jargon). We know he's black. But I've got this nagging feeling we might find out that he also practices an alternative lifestyle -- I mean besides from all of the murdering. There's just something about this Batman and Robin act -- Malvo is his "ward"? --- that strikes me as odd, in a specific way. Call it a hunch. Not that there's anything wrong with that.